PAID gives report for 2013 activities, goals in Pottstown

POTTSTOWN — The executive director of the Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc. gave a report to both the Pottstown Borough Council and Pottstown School Board at a joint meeting detailing the activities and goals of the organization.

Since reorganization in 2010, the Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc. (PAID) is required to give an annual report to both the governing bodies.

Much of Bamford’s presentation on PAID’s activities in the last year centered around the organization’s goals and the progress made toward them.

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He said PAID’s role as a facilitator of relationships between developers and real estate brokers was a particular triumph during the past year.

“One of the things I think that has been most effective throughout 2013 is we’ve been setting up informal meetings in borough hall with businesses and developers who are doing construction in town before the project gets too far,” Bamford said. “This has been a very effective tool.”

He said the meetings create a line of communications with all interested parties, including borough officials, to save time and money on new developments.

As a whole, Bamford said the value of building permits in Pottstown has increased by 7.54 percent, which he described as “encouraging.”

“One of the hurdles that we have to overcome is the perception of us,” Bamford said of marketing efforts for the borough. “I think we can all agree that creating and building a more positive image of our community is key to stimulating investment.”

He said there are many positive things going on in Pottstown but getting those things out has not been tremendously effective.

“I think we can all agree we haven’t done the best job telling all of those stories and getting the word out consistently, in terms of our message,” Bamford said.

One significant goal Bamford discussed was bringing regional passenger rail service to town.

“I think we all recognize that this is a real gamechanger if we were ever able to accomplish this,” Bamford said. “We would really benefit from a connection to community rail.”

In 2013, though, he said no progress was made and school board member Judyth Zahora wondered aloud whether they should abandon the goal since she’s heard indications from officials that “this will not happen in our lifetimes, and I plan on living for a long time.”

“It’s so important, it’s something we want to keep in mind,” Bamford said. “We recognize it’s long-term so we don’t want to put resources in it in detriment to the things we can accomplish in the short-term, but the consensus was it’s so important, we want to keep our eye on it.”

When asked about more development downtown and the filling of storefronts there, Bamford said it remains a process due to a shift in what businesses are in Pottstown now.

“It continues to be a challenge,” Bamford said. “Our downtown grew up around retail.”

Currently, the borough has many different technical firms like VideoRay and Cody Systems which are creating an attractive niche in town because “techies want to be with other techies,” according to Bamford.

“We are fortunate that in our five square miles we have some very interesting tech companies,” Bamford said. “We’ve got momentum. We can build on what we have here.”

About the Author

Frank Otto is a general assignment reporter covering Phoenixville, Limerick and Spring-Ford schools in addition to features and spot news. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Otto moonlights with the sports department on occasion. Reach the author at fotto@pottsmerc.com
or follow Frank on Twitter: @fottojourno.